New Car/Review

Dodge Intrepid R/T (2001)

by Carey Russ

"R/T" as applied to Dodge is a name intimately connected to
the muscle car era of the late 1960s. Meaning "Road / Track," it
first appeared on the 1967 Coronet R/T, a bad-boy intermediate-
sized hardtop or convertible with a standard 375-horsepower, 440-
cubic inch V8. If that wasn't enough, the famed 426 cubic-inch
"Hemi" V8, conservatively rated at 425 horsepower, was optional.
By 1968, the R/T nameplate was used on the more upscale
Charger as well. Muscle cars peaked by 1970, and, with the coming
of the first safety and emissions regulations, and steep insurance
penalties, were extinct long before the oil crises of the mid and late
1970s. The 1971 Dodge Charger R/T looked like the end of the line.
But awesome performance is never forgotten. Muscle cars
that sold for under $1,000 at the depths of the 1970s gas shortages
are now valued collector's items. And Dodge brought the R/T
designation back in the mid-1990s, applying it to a number of its
performance-oriented cars and trucks. The latest recipient is the
Intrepid R/T sedan.

Today's Intrepid R/T is not a muscle car in the original sense,
but that's not exactly bad news. True muscle cars, like the Coronet
and Charger R/Ts, were pretty one-dimensional, sacrificing almost
everything for blistering acceleration. Braking and cornering abilities
were, even by the standards of the day, often primitive. And fuel
consumption was prodigious. The 2001 Dodge Intrepid R/T may lag
in acceleration when compared to some of its forebears, but it more
than makes up for that in its handling, comfort, and fuel economy.
The Intrepid R/T gets its performance increase the old-
fashioned way - from a larger, more-powerful engine. In this case,
it's a 3.5-liter (215 cubic inch) V6, with 242 horsepower. It's quick
enough, and, far more importantly, suspension and brake upgrades
give it good, well-balanced handling abilities. I've been driving one
for the past week, and have been impressed. It's a roomy, refined,
and comfortable executive express.

APPEARANCE: Changes to the second-generation Intrepid's styling
for the R/T are minimal, limited to foglamps at the outer edges of
the modified "cross-hair" grille and five-spoke alloy wheels. Like all
current Intrepids, the R/T's sleekly aerodynamic lines and short hood
and trunk make its three-box sedan shape almost a one-box,
teardrop design. The thick vertical bar of the grille suggests the front
of a race car, but subtly.

COMFORT: The Intrepid traveler journeys in style and comfort,
with plenty of room as a bonus. The Intrepid R/T is a large car by
today's standards, and makes excellent use of its size thanks to its
"cab-forward" design. It's a driver's car, with comfortable front
bucket seats and well-placed sporty black-on-white instruments and
easily-used controls. Two interior colors - taupe and dark slate gray
- are unique to the R/T. My test car had slate leather. Dark interiors
can be dreary, but not in this case. A lighter-colored headliner and
plenty of window area help considerably. Interior storage is far more
than merely adequate, with large door pockets, a center console box
with CD partitions and a power point, and a large, locking glovebox.
Large doors aid access to both the front and rear seats. The rear seat
takes full advantage of the Intrepid's size, with excellent legroom,
and good headroom despite the large, gently-sloped rear window.
An available 60/40 split for the rear seat adds to the car's versatility,
but the trunk is large enough that it shouldn't be necessary to fold
the rear seat very often.

ROADABILITY: My compliments to Dodge's suspension engineers.
The Intrepid R/T is not small, and has a noticeable forward weight
bias, but careful design and tuning of its fully-independent strut-type
suspension gives it surprisingly agile handling, even on narrow,
undulating roads. There is very little body roll in cornering. Like a
well-bred European sport-touring sedan, its suspension is firm but
compliant enough for excellent ride comfort. It is a very civilized
vehicle on the highway or on a scenic byway.

PERFORMANCE: The Intrepid R/T's 3.5-liter single overhead cam
V6's 242 horsepower at 6400 rpm and 248 lb-ft of torque at 3950
give it good performance by today's standards, helped by the
manually-shiftable "AutoStick" four-speed automatic transmission.
The engine's torque characteristics enable it to work just fine in
"Drive." For quicker acceleration or just plain driving entertainment,
the AutoStick shifts enables use of higher engine speeds and shifts
smoothly and quickly. Even driven enthusiastically, fuel use is
minimal, especially considering the car's size, with low-to-mid 20s
mpg easily attainable. What it may lose to its ancestors in
acceleration and straight-line speed is more than made up for in the
corners and in fuel consumption.